


Siccum Sanguine

by YourTrueNemesis



Category: The Illuminae Files - Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Genre: Angst, Blood, F/M, Family Bonding, Gemina, Gen, Protective Ella Malikova
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 23:03:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14628873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YourTrueNemesis/pseuds/YourTrueNemesis
Summary: Analyst ID 7213-0089-DN describes a deleted scene from the second volume of The Illuminae Files.





	Siccum Sanguine

**Author's Note:**

> A scene that I've been thinking about for over a year now: How did Ella find out about what Hanna did to Nik? Because she immediately attacks Hanna when Hanna messages her.
> 
> Also there is a stunning lack of fanfiction for this wonderful series.
> 
> And none about my favorite character.
> 
> Also, the swear words aren't blocked out because I can't...

Last time we saw our chum Nik on camera, it was in the bathroom where he killed Juggler. He’s obviously cleaned up a bit since then, the blood on his face is gone, even though there’s still a bit gilded over his temple that he missed when he was washing up.  
He’s left the bathroom, but he’s still in the docks sector. He’s in a hallway just off the Mess Hall where he found the bacon. Fucking Bacon. I would kill someone for some bacon right now. He slips into a storage room to check his palmpad. I’m gonna splice these in as they appear.

Nik M: as;lkajlakdflkasdflkasdlfkalsdkflaksjdflkajsdflkjasldkfjalskdjf  
Nik M: highness?  
Nik M: Hanna let me explain  
Nik M: HANNA  
Nik M: pls let me explain

Fem’s not answering. She’s off somewhere processing probably, but our boy just keeps pounding at his pad. Keeps glancing at it like somehow she’s gonna forgive him. Not gonna happen chum. Not gonna happen.

Nik M: Hanna It wasn’t me  
Nik M: pls highness, I need you to understand  
Nik M: cmon

He closes and leans against the wall, his hand holding the palmpad dropping to his side. He sighs. Wipes at his eyes.  
He’s crying.  
A message buzzes his palmpad and lights up the screen. He scrambles for a moment, holding the palmpad up to his face and checking the messages. He’s all tense energy and buzzing hope. And all that hope leaves him when he sees the message.

Pauchok: yo cuz, fuckers gonna flush some sectors. get a suit  
Nik M: omw  
Pauchok: where ru?  
Nik M: closet in docks, headed to ec if i get the chance  
Pauchok: good good. status on blondie?

Nik sighs, and cracks the door to the hall, scanning the corridor for any of Falk’s team. Empty. He softly closes the door to the storage room and starts to run down the hall. He’s not as trained as Hanna, and he’s in bulky tactical armor, and his boots bang against the floor of the hall. Luckily for him the soundproofing on the station is top fucking notch.

Pauchok: cuz?  
Pauchok: hey cuz, hows your fem  
Nik M: nt mh fem  
Pauchok: hm?  
Nik M: runing forasuit. shu tup  
Pauchok: mkay. do you even know where she is  
Nik M: no  
Pauchok: yeah yeah, I know ure looking for a suit, mr serious and all  
Pauchok: anyway… once you find a suit, tell me and Hanna

Nik throws open a utility locker to find it empty.  
“Fuck…” he whispers, and runs down the hall again. He skids around a corner and stops, breathing hard. Nightingale is standing at the end of the hall, facing away from him. He curses under his breath and makes a sharp turn for the closet door on his left, sliding inside and hauling himself up in a practiced mauver, bracing on the shelf and sliding into an open air vent. He checks his palmpad and sees a list of unread messages.

Pauchok: look Hanna’s not answering me  
Pauchok: give her my message too  
Pauchok: Nik?  
Pauchok: u safe?  
Nik M: fine now. air vent out of the way  
Pauchok: gotcha. any luck with blondie?  
Nik M: she’s not answering my coms. she shut off the connection  
Pauchok: ouch cuz. wutd you do? break her girlish heart? steal her boyfriend?  
Pauchok: if anyone could steal Merrick from Hanna, itd be you  
Pauchok: srsly, wutd you do?  
Pauchok: in a suit yet?  
Nik M: in an air vent dumbass clearly not in a suit  
Pauchok: relax cuz. Just making conversation…  
Pauchok: my other questions?  
Nik tenses as he hears a noise from below.

Nik M: gotta go they coming my way

Nik quietly crawls forward trying to avoid banging in the air vent. He’s sweating and grimacing even though he doesn’t look like he’s in much pain. Graphite and soot stains the sides of his palms and smears across his forehead when he wipes his brow. He squeezes through vents that are conveniently the right size.  
Even through the shitty camera on his palmpad, it’s pretty clear that the steel walls of the vent are incredibly hot. Flares of heat blur the air by the walls, and Nik sweats more, drips from his brow catching in his eyes, mixing with the tears still clinging there. He has his palmpad gripped in his fingertips in front of him as he crawls on his elbows and knees, frantically checking his palmpad for any sign of Hanna.

Nik M: Hanna?  
Nik M: pls just answer me  
Nik M: let me explain!

The chum swears up a fucking storm and stops, letting the heated walls of the vent sear warmth through his suit. It’s as if he’s punishing himself… not that I’d know. Anyway. This chum wipes at his eyes with a blood stained sleeve, partly dry red smearing like eyeshadow over his eyes. He chokes something part sigh part sob through the hot, dry air before checking his palmpad again,

Pauchok: shit r u okay?  
Pauchok: Nik?  
Pauchok: cuz?  
Pauchok: CUZ!  
Nik M: All caps

Pauchok: real mature cuz  
Pauchok: real mature  
Nik M: im fine Ella rly but guess where I am  
Pauchok: ummm… air vent  
Nik M: dingdingding winnerrrrrrrr  
Pauchok: any luck with blondie  
Nik M: nope you?  
Pauchok: im getting blanked too

Nik sighs, tearing his eyes from his palmpad and shimmies down the vent tunnel, his jacket clinging to the edges, and his boots scuffing the metal. There’s an intersection up ahead and the kid turns to his right and shifts a metal grate from it’s grooves.  
He lowers himself down through the gap and crumples to the floor with a bang of boots on tarmac. He rolls his ankle as he hits the floor and swears as he clutches at his foot. This little shit needs to clean out his fucking mouth. See what I did there?  
He’s in another bathroom, like the one where he shot Juggler.  
“Lookin’ good chum,” he says to his mirror, “Lookin’ real good.”  
He’s obviously being sarcastic. He looks like shit warmed over. Dark circles under and around his eyes cheeks and eyelids smeared with crusted blood. He’d just gotten it all off too.  
“Nik… you’ll be fine chum. You’ll be fine. Hanna will dm you, and you can tell her about Oksana and-” The fingers of the basin of the sink jitter and suddenly he lurches forward and vomits into the sink.  
Still better than watching those fucking alien things. I think I might just vomit along with our chum here.  
Nik heaves, chunks of whatever he last ate splattering the dark basin of the industrial sink. Not much of it in his stomach to be honest. Christ when’s the last time this kid ate?  
He empties his stomach and dry heaves a few times before looking at the sink and gagging again. He washes some of it down with the water from the sink, and then washes his mouth out and cleans his face. He sticks out his tongue, something’s coated it.  
“At least you’ve still got a tongue you bastard.” He crosses his chest with his hand. Shoulder to shoulder, then forehead to heart. It’s a prayer. I wonder how long it’s been since he’s prayed. Probably too long. He mutters,  
“I’m sorry Oksana. I’m sorry Erik. I’m so fucking sorry.” Then he slides down, back to the wall and sobs. He really cries for the first time since Hanna cussed him out. The palmpad buzzes once… twice… over and over until he finally checks it.

Pauchok: where r u?  
Pauchok: you really did steal Merrick shit  
Pauchok: at wut point should i check the mail for your balls  
Pauchok: just like granma Nika u kno?  
Pauchok: ironically ure the one named after her not Hanna  
Pauchok: speaking of. News?  
Nik M: in another bathroom. Just vomited  
Pauchok: oof whyd u do that?  
Nik M: panic u kno?  
Pauchok: I thought those went away after everything with ur dad  
Nik M: yeah well it was abut that  
Pauchok: huh? oh I found u on cams  
Pauchok: cuz whyre you crying?  
Pauchok: wut’d she do  
Pauchok: wut did that bitch say to my only cuz  
Nik M: it was about her  
Pauchok: her?  
Pauchok: Hanna?  
Nik M: no  
Nik M: Oksana  
Pauchok: shit  
Pauchok: fuck fuck SHIT!  
Pauchok: im gonna kill her  
Pauchok: heres blondie dming me now  
Pauchok: im srsly gonna kill her for making my cuz cry

Nik drops his palmpad and buries his head in his hands. I’m not exactly sure what Ella’s planning to do to Donnelly, but I’m pretty sure that Merrick’s going to have to check his mailbox soon.


End file.
